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Marquez dominates from start to finish; Kong-Somkiat performs well

Marquez dominates from start to finish; Kong-Somkiat performs well

Provided by Nation.

The 2025 MotoGP battle opens in Buri Ram, Marc Marquez returns to strong form, leading from the pole to win the 13-round sprint race, over Alex Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia while “Kong-Somkiat”, the Thai rider, has a satisfactory debut in the first race, finishing 19th amidst fans cheering him on at Chang International Circuit.

The 2025 MotoGP battle opens the season at Chang International Circuit, Buriram Province, with “PT Grand Prix of Thailand” on the afternoon of Saturday, March 1, 2025, with a 13-round “sprint race” duel, with motorsport fans filling the stadium to cheer him on. Especially Thai rider "Kong" Somkiat Chantra from Idemitsu Honda LCR who is competing in MotoGP for the first time.

Marc Marquez, 8-time world champion from Ducati Lenovo Team, started from pole position and led from start to finish in 19 minutes 35.005 seconds, winning over his younger brother Alex Marquez from Gresini Racing who was 1.185 seconds behind in second place. Francesco Bagnaia, his Ducati teammate, was 3.423 seconds behind in third place.



Rookie Ai Ogura from Trackhouse Racing created a surprise. Starting from grid 5, he fought his way to 4th place, 4.392 seconds behind the winner, followed by Franco Morbidelli and Pedro Acosta in 5th-6th place, while Fabio Quartararo, Brad Binder and Joan Meir finished 7th-9th place.

“Kong-Somkiat” shone in his home country, starting from grid 21, climbing to 19th place. Despite losing his rhythm in Turn 3, he still fought hard to finish the race in 19th place, 24.594 seconds behind the winner. He revealed that the team was satisfied with the results from the first day and hoped to continue improving in the main race on Sunday.



The competition also has other qualifying classes. In Moto2, Manuel Gonzalez won the pole with a time of 1 minute 34.634 seconds, while in Moto3, Matteo Berdelli got the pole, while “Kong” Thatchakorn Buasri, a Thai rider, won the grid 17.

This Sunday, March 2, the main races will start with Moto3 at 12am, Moto2 at 1.15pm, and MotoGP at 3pm. Fans can follow it on TrueVisions Now and True4U, broadcasting live from 3pm.

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AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL


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